Saturday, October 25, 2014

On the UK's Goal of Reducing it's Greenhouse Gas Emission by 80% by the Year, 2050

This would necessitate that they reduce their metric tons of carbon dioxide per $1,000 of GDP from .42 to .03 AND accelerate their decarbonization rate (as observed from 1980 to 2008) by upwards of 4-fold. Does anybody with so much as a brain-stem truly believe that this is possible?...THESE ENVIRONMENTALISTS ARE WACKY, PEOPLE!!...........................................................................................P.S. And it also must be stated that the observed decarbonization that did occur occurred primarily due to deindustrialization (which I gather that the Brits do not want more of) and a one-time switch from coal to gas (which will be difficult to replicate and which could only occur via nuclear and/or hydro AND LOTS OF IT). To say that even this level of decarbonization (on into the future) is a given is itself dicey.

They'd do better to focus on real, harmful pollutants and emissions instead of the ubiquitous, non-poison CO2 which, sorry, Al Gore, isn't going to cause Florida to sink sometime between now and when CSI airs its final season.

As for "lofty goals", there's a large number of environmental goals/problems (deforestation, biodiversity issues, habitat loss, extinction, oceans, actual pollution) that are much more important and much easier to impact with a smaller effort than the "War On Carbon".

That's why we need scientist thinking outside the box. The world ain't going to look like it does now in a 100 years so we might as well do something to shape our destiny as best be can. No time like the present to start thinking about it.